Installing the Windows 98 Upgrade

Installing the Windows 98 OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer. This is a designation for companies that manufacture equipment that is then marketed and sold off to other companies under their own names.)

 Installing the Windows 98 upgrade should be quite simple since this is done from within the windows environment.  You are probably running windows 95 and want to upgrade with the cd that you have just purchased. Because it is an “upgrade” this software requires you already have a working copy of windows running on your system.  Usually by inserting the CD in the drive will start the install procedure however if it doesn’t, you can click on the start menu/run and BROWSE to the cd rom drive and the setup.exe file.  By running this program it will start the setup program.. By following the prompts from here on in should do it.

 To install Windows 98 OEM version requires no operating system to be present on the hard drive.. During the first phase of the installation it looks for the win.com file and if it finds one, it will not allow you to continue. Therefore, all you need to do is rename the file (do not remove in case you have troubles you can always rename it back to what it was originally).. 

Also, because windows will prompt you to install the windows cd often when installing new hardware, I recommend copying the windows installation files (cab) files to the hard drive and run the installation from there. This is recommended for two main reasons:

1. No CD rom Drive is required and since you are going to be starting from the dos prompt, you will have to install the dos drivers for the cd rom.
2. By installing windows from the hard drive, each time windows requires a system file from the windows cd, it will not prompt you but will go to the correct “installation folder” because it remembers how it was installed (install folder).

If you have access to a computer that already has windows 98 on it, you can quite easily make a windows 98 boot disk floppy that you can use for your installation.  To create a disk go to the control panel of your windows 98 machine (start menu/settings/control panel)  then click on ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS and then click on the WINDOWS START UP DISK tab to create a boot floppy.  By doing this, when you restart your computer with the win98 boot disk in, you will be prompted whether you want to start the computer with or without cd rom support, thus installing the dos driver for you.  This can save hours of searching for the correct commands and editing the autoexec.bat and config.sys files from the dos boot disk, since each cd rom does have it’s own set of drivers.

 Back to the installation from the Hard drive…  From within windows 95 “MY Computer” or Explorer, create a directory (folder) on the c:\ drive (unless you have more then one hard drive in which case you might want to place the windows cab files on it so that it is on a separate drive from the operating system.  This has advantages since you can reformat the C:\ drive without having to re-copy the windows 98 install cab files..

 Create a new folder and call it win98ins  (short for windows 98 install).. note that I would create this under the root of the drive (ie:  c:\win98ins, or d:\win98ins)  This way it is not in a sub-folder of another directory which could become corrupted over time and you would not be able to retrieve the cab files.  Note:  Some computers that are purchased from the computer store with an operating system already on them place the windows “cab” files under c:\windows\options\cabs.  As I mentioned, if this “windows” folder were to ever get deleted or corrupted for any reason, you would probably not be able to retrieve the files from a sub folder two levels deep.

 Be sure to copy all files (including hidden files) from the windows 98 cd rom folder of “win98”. You should now have a new folder under c:\win98ins\

With all the cab files and “setup.exe” file that you will now be running from the dos prompt.

 When you are ready to proceed, you will want to do one of two things:

Without a windows 98 boot floppy:

1. If you are planning to now install from the hard drive, simply restart your computer in dos mode.  At the c:\windows prompt you will want to type rename win.com win.old
1. Now go to the c: prompt by typing cd\
2. Now at the c:\ prompt you want to go to the win98ins folder by typing cd win98ins
3. Now at the c:\win98ins\  prompt type setup and this will start the install procedure
4. Next you will probably be prompted as to which directory to save the windows program since it will also detect the windows folder already exists. In this case it usually prompts you to install to c:\windows.000  you want to CHANGE this to c:\windows so that it installs the new version of windows over top of the old.. replacing the important system files, etc.. Also, this will allow you to still run the other programs on your computer without having to re-install them. NOTE: if you do not do this, you will end up with windows 98 installing to c:\windows.000 and you will not be able to run other programs because the c:\window\system folder will not be recognized since  your new windows is now c:\windows.000\system.. Trust me, you don’t want to make this mistake.. If you do make this mistake, cancel your installation.. and email me for help
2. If you are installing from the cd-rom then you will want to re-start your computer in dos mode and then go to the c:\windows folder and rename the win.com file to win.old by using the same method as in (1)
1. Now you will want to go to the D drive by typing d: (based on D being your cd rom drive)
2. Now at the d:\ drive you will want to type setup and the procedure will begin. NOTE:  at this point you will also get prompted about the windows folder already existing. Follow the procedures from (1d.)

 Starting the installation of windows 98 from a windows 98 boot floppy is done by the following steps:

3. Restart your computer in dos mode and then follow the steps in (1) only, returning to Step 4 next.
4. Place the windows 98 boot floppy in the drive and then restart your computer so that it boots from the floppy disk. You will be prompted whether you want cd rom support or not.. obviously if you are using the windows cd rom to install and not direct from the hard drive you will want cd rom support.  After this, follow the same procedure as you would whether you are installing from cd rom or direct from the hard drive.